DictionaryAI

shrewd

adjective
USSHROOD/ʃɹud/

Formsshrewder, shrewdest

12 meanings of shrewd

Practice

  1. 1
    clever (practical)adjective
    Clever and practical, good at finding smart ways to get things done.

    Buying the old house and fixing it up was a shrewd idea.

    Mia was shrewder than the other kids and sold all her lemonade by noon.

    Similarastute, canny, smart, clever, wise

    Oppositefoolish, naive, unwise, stupid

    Note
  2. 2
    slyadjective
    Clever in a sneaky way, using tricks to get what you want.

    The shrewd fox in the story tricked the crow into dropping its cheese.

    Be careful trading with Leo. He's shrewd and will trick you out of your best cards.

    Similarcrafty, cunning, wily, sly, artful

    Oppositenaive, guileless, honest

    Note
  3. 3
    sharp mindadjective
    Smart and well informed, with a quick, sharp mind.

    Her shrewd questions showed she had read every page of the report.

    Our coach is a shrewd judge of players and knows who should start each game.

    Similarastute, perceptive, sharp, keen, discerning

    Oppositeobtuse, dull

  4. 4
    close guessadjective
    Nearly correct, coming close to the right answer.

    Her shrewd guess of three hundred jelly beans was only four off.

    The mechanic gave a shrewd estimate, and the final bill was only ten dollars more.

    Similargood, fair, close, accurate

    Oppositeinaccurate

    Note
  5. 5
    street-smartadjectivecolloquial
    Smart about how things really work in the city, and hard to fool.

    Tony grew up in the city and is shrewd enough to spot a scam right away.

    Kids who ride the subway alone learn to be shrewd fast.

    Similarstreetwise, savvy, smart, sharp, canny

    Oppositenaive, gullible, green

    Note
  6. 6
    adjective
    Very hard and severe, like a heavy hit or attack.

    A falling branch gave him a shrewd blow on the shoulder.

    The cold winter was a shrewd blow to the small farm.

    Similarhard, heavy, severe, powerful, fierce

    Oppositelight, gentle

    Note
  7. 7
    piercingadjective
    Sharp and cutting, like a very cold wind.

    A shrewd wind blew off the lake while we waited for the bus.

    We wore two scarves against the shrewd cold on the mountain.

    Similarbiting, bitter, piercing, sharp, keen

    Oppositemild, gentle, warm

    Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of shrewd apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from an old English word meaning "wicked" or "cursed," related to the word shrew. Later it came to mean "clever," and by the 1600s it was a good thing to be called.